NAIA 2014 Women's Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week - No. 1

Mattos and Mitzel grabbed first honors of 2014 season

March 19, 2014

By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jessica Mattos of Concordia (Ore.) has been named the NAIA National Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week and Lexi Mitzel of Corban (Ore.) has been selected as the NAIA National Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week, the national office announced Wednesday. Mattos and Mitzel were selected based on their performances from March 10 – 16. This is the first award of the 2014 outdoor season.

Mattos, a junior from Corralitos, Calif., opened her 2014 outdoor season with the Cascade Collegiate Conference's (CCC) top marks in both the hammer and the discus. At the Saints Open, hosted in Gresham, Ore., on March 15, Mattos’ discus mark of 47.34 meters earned her an ‘A’ championship qualifying standard and is the NAIA’s top overall mark this season. She also took home third-place honors in the hammer (44.82 meters) and was 25th in the shot (10.60 meters). At the conference level, Mattos currently has more than a 20-foot lead in both the discus and hammer.

Mitzel (pictured top left), a sophomore from Salem, Ore., was the top finisher in the 5000 meters at the Saints Open. Her effort of 17:37.46 earned her an 'A' qualifying time and was nearly one second off the Corban school record in the event.